Not Easily Replaced
by szfiopgh9w348ay
Summary: An average high school boy is sent on a quest into the world of Pokemon after he begins dating a mysterious girl. Rated M for mature themes later on. (Maybe Lemon)
1. Chapter 1

At 6:30 AM, I woke up.

At 6:45 AM, I actually got up and put on my clothes.

At 6:47 AM, I ate breakfast.

At 6:51 AM, I went upstairs to wake my little sister.

From 6:52 to 6:59 AM, she performed her morning ritual while I waited for her to finish so we could catch the bus on time.

At 7:00 AM, I sprinted to the bus stop.

At 7:43 AM, I arrived at school and made my way to class.

At 7:47 AM, I sat down in my seat between my best friend Jeff and the mysterious new girl Lani.

At 8:00 AM, the class started.

At 12:00 PM, class was dismissed for lunch. Jeff and I sat down at our usual table.

At 12:45 PM, I returned to class.

At 3:45 PM, class was dismissed and I walked down to the pool for practice.

At 4:00 PM, I began enduring unusual and cruel punishment from the coach.

At 6:00 PM, practice ended and I picked up my sister from basketball and went home.

At 6:40 PM, I arrived at home and ate dinner.

At 7:00 PM, I finished eating dinner and sat down at my computer to play some Pokémon.

At 7:30 PM, I started working on homework.

At 9:30 PM, I finished my homework and took a shower

At 10:00 PM, I went to bed.

* * *

As I read over my assignment one last time to make sure I didn't forget anything, I began to realize how boring my life was. Here I am, sitting in English class, listening to old Ms. Collins lecture on the importance of subtle details in poetry. As far as I'm concerned, the poet probably just wrote a bunch of words, then locked some crazy English teachers in a room and told them to overanalyze the crap out of it and turn it into something 'artistic'. In fact, I'm convinced that all English teachers are somewhat crazy. Ms. Collins, for example, would give out random assignments for homework that make absolutely no sense and contribute nothing to the material we're studying. Once, she insisted that we write down our favorite fruit, and afterwards, she told us to have a relative take a picture of us intimately holding it while sleeping. She insisted that it helped us understand sex without having to actually experience it. One poor guy didn't read the whole instruction clearly and ended up having to caress a watermelon for a whole night and get his sister to take a picture of him drooling over a watermelon. That picture is still on Facebook.

Anyways, this assignment she had us do for today involved noting everything we did for a day and writing a schedule. I actually thought this was pretty interesting despite the fact that we're probably never going to use it anyways and it's probably just a waste of time. As it turns out, I do absolutely nothing interesting. Every day was the same; get up, go to school, swim, come home, do homework, sleep. In fact, every school day has been like this since freshman year. During middle school, I would have a lot of free time and play video games or watch anime to escape from the dull routine of life. However, circumstances changed when I started high school. At first, high school was interesting. There were new people, different classes, and a lot to get used to. After the first month, though, everything just felt so routine and boring like before. However, one thing changed. Somehow, high school managed to creep in and take over every waking hour of my life. After swimming and homework, I no longer had the time to engage in fantasy worlds and escape from reality. It seems like there was nothing to look forward to except the weekends and the holidays. I don't have any real long-term goals or any reason to try hard (well, except the fear of my parents' wrath). It's not like I choose not to try something new or pursue another hobby, it's just that I don't really have the time or energy to do anything else. I tried to stay up later into the night and even tried to quit swimming, but I just got tired and unhealthy and I gave up. The only thing I do as a hobby anymore is Pokémon, as swimming is practically a job. Sometimes, during boring classes like this one, I wish that I was somewhere else…

* * *

"Hey, Steven, are you going to turn in your homework or what?"

"Huh?" I said as I turned around to see my best friend Jeff standing next to my desk with a silly grin on her face.

"Well, you've been staring at the wall for a while now and the teacher is going to leave now, so you better hurry up. If you don't get up soon, I'll go to lunch without you."

"Yeah… Sorry. I'll get my homework turned in," I said as I got up and put my homework at the top of the pile.

"Well," I said as we walked down to the cafeteria, "Snow Ball is coming up."

"Are you going to go?"

"Well, I don't know. I kinda want to go though, cause we're juniors and we won't be here for too long, and it would be a shame if I never went to one. But, I honestly just want to be lazy and watch TV or something, and besides, I don't really have anybody to ask."

"How about that new girl, Lani?"

"I don't know…"

"Come on! It would be fun! And besides, I noticed the way you look at her every morning. You totally have a crush on her," he said with a wink.

At this point, I started blushing as we entered the cafeteria. We walked over the table where we always sat. "Anyways," I said, "I just think she's cute. Besides, she never talks. I don't even know how she feels about me anyways."

"Well," he replies, "At least ask. You've got nothing to lose, and besides, she would probably appreciate it if someone asked her to the dance. Or are you too scared?"

"No… it's not that… and besides! You have no right to judge! You never have to worry about stuff like this. You have Claudia!"

"True," he said while scratching his neck. Claudia is Jeff's adopted little sister, and she is the world to him. She's autistic and she sometimes has a hard time taking care of herself, but she is one of the kindest and most innocent people I've ever met and she is an incredible artist. All of her paintings and sketches convey so much thought and emotion that they could pass as masterpieces. Since Claudia loved to dance, when she started high school, Jeff made sure to take her to all the school dances and make sure she's safe.

As I started to eat my lunch, I thought about the past few minutes. Sure, I would be taking a risk by asking anyone to the dance, but with Lani, I've never really spoken to her since the first week. She never said a word in school, and it seemed like she didn't really want anybody to talk to her either. She always seems happy and cheerful most of the time, but when I try to talk to her, she gets all shy and embarrassed. It's weird. Sure, she's cute and never hurt anyone, but she just felt so distant and, well, out of my league. I'm not sure if I'm willing to risk getting in her bad books just for a stupid dance. But then again, I'm really bored with my life, and maybe taking a risk like this might be just the right thing to do. Perhaps I should take the initiative and maybe it would be fun.

With that thought, Jeff and I got up and headed back to class.

* * *

The next day, after completing the same routine for school mornings, I got off the bus and made my way to homeroom, as usual. My bus always arrived early, so I'm usually one of the first people in the room. I made my way to my seat and was about to start sleeping at my desk until the teacher arrived, when I noticed Lani looking at me funny. I guess half of my brain told my body to take a nap on the table while the other half told my body to get up and say "Hi", but what ended up happening was me flipping over and falling out of my chair. I looked up and I saw Lani staring at me with this silly grin on her face. God, that was so embarrassing. I hid my face against the desk until I calmed down and figured I should do something about the awkward situation.

"Well… good morning, I guess?" I said nervously.

She waved back as usual.

After an awkward pause, I said, "Well, that was embarrassing."

She smiled.

"Well, do you think I'm an idiot now?"

She shook her head.

"Oh good… because…"

She tilted her head a little and looked at me as if to say "Go on."

"Well… because… this is just too embarrassing. I don't know if I should tell you."

She continued looking at me like that. She must really want me to finish my sentence. I mean I might as well ask her to the dance now. Better get it done early than having to wait until the last minute and have other problems happen. After all, at least she didn't think I'm an idiot, so that's good.

"Well… you know how Snow Ball is coming up?"

She nodded, probably sensing where this is going. So far, she hasn't run away yet, so that seemed promising.

"And… well… I was wondering if you… ifyouwouldliketogotosnowballwithme," I blurted out before hiding my face in embarrassment. What is she going to do? I'm so scared!

She tapped my shoulder to get my attention, and as I lifted my head up to look at her, she smiled and gave me a surprise hug. After a while, she released her hug and nodded happily, with an honest smile and a light blush on her face.

"Wait! You really will? That's awesome! Thank you so much!" I exclaimed. A mix of happiness and relief crashed down on me. Maybe this was the start of something exciting.

* * *

**AN: 1,806 words. I personally like the chapters a little longer. I'll see what I can do. Anyways, one or two of you might be wondering what happened to the Espeon story. The thing was, I knew where to start and I knew where to end up, but I have no idea how to write the middle. Sorry, but I have a better plan for this fanfic. If I get done with this one, I might go back and finish the other one. As always, reviews are awesome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello!**

* * *

Since I asked Lani to the dance on Tuesday morning, a couple things happened.

First, she started sitting with me and Jeff at lunch, so we had to find a bigger table. We had never sat at a different table before, so that was something new. During lunch, I ended up asking her some questions to try to know her better. Since I knew she didn't want to talk, I started with some simple yes/no questions. It felt slightly awkward, but I ended up figuring out that she liked animals, ice cream, and Mountain Dew. She also doesn't have a cell phone or a computer at home. Then, I made the mistake of asking her this: "So, how do you do your homework without a computer?"

She stared at me for a while, unable to answer such a question. Then, she jumped a little as an idea popped into her head, and she began looking through her bag for something. Finally, she brought out a sketch pad and flipped through to find an empty page. While she was flipping through her pad, I happened to see one of her sketches. The sketch showed a squirrel eating a pop tart on a park bench. Not only was it funny because the squirrels in the park downtown will eat anything, but the sketch was also extremely detailed and seemed perfectly realistic. The texture of the squirrel's fur looked so real and the squirrel's little eyes seemed to shine through the paper. The scenery and background were simple and clear, and they didn't get in the way of the main focus at all. Her sketch was so good that it could have been drawn by a professional illustrator.

"Whoa!" I said, "You're drawings are so beautiful! I didn't know you had such a cool talent!"

She smiled.

"So, is this what you like to do outside of school?"

She nodded. Then, she found an empty sheet of paper among random half-finished drawings. Carefully, she ripped the sheet out of the pad and took out her pencil. Tilting the sketch pad against the table, she started to write something. After she finished writing, she took the piece of paper and flipped it for me to read.

It read:

I go to the library every day after school to work on homework. I don't have a phone or anything, but I do have an email account.

As soon as I looked up after I finished reading, she handed me a smaller, folded sheet of paper. Her email address was on it. I pulled out my phone and entered her email into my contacts.

That night, I sent her an email. I said Hi.

* * *

The next day, when I got to school, Lani was already at her desk with her sketch pad in her hands. As I entered the classroom and made my way over to my desk, she ran up to me and gave me a surprise hug. Because she was significantly shorter than me, her brunette hair brushed up against my nose. She smelled like strawberries. Then, she, obviously excited about something, grabbed my arm and pulled me over to her desk. She opened her backpack, pulled out two sheets of paper, and handed them to me with a smile.

I unfolded the paper and looked down at the first sheet. It was a beautiful hand-drawn picture of an Umbreon playing with an Espeon. They were in a tree house near a lake, and the Espeon was looking out the window. The Umbreon was pulling on Espeon's tail, trying to get her to play chess. Their expressions were so well-drawn. It was one of the cutest things I've seen in my life.

"Wait," I said when I suddenly realized, "How did you know I liked Pokémon?"

She pointed at the second sheet of paper.

I unfolded it and began to read.

Good morning, Steven! I remember that yesterday you said you liked my drawings, and that really meant a lot to me. I thought you would like a sketch as a gift, so I asked Jeff about what you liked. He said that you loved to swim and play Pokémon. I don't really know how you 'play Pokémon', but I have no idea what swimming looks like. I hope you like my little gift as much as I enjoyed drawing it!

"Wow…" I said, unable to figure out what to say next. "This is really amazing," I managed to blurt out, "Thank you very, very much!" She probably didn't know what Pokémon were at all before this, yet she took the effort to figure out who Espeon and Umbreon were and draw them with so much detail in just one day. To think she would do all that just for a gift for me…

"You must have worked so hard to draw this," I said, a little speechlessly. "Thank you so much! And, have you really never seen anyone swim before?"

She nodded.

"Well, our first home meet is next Monday, and you could come if you would like, I guess?"

She smiled. Then, she grabbed the sheet of paper with the letter and wrote underneath it, I'll be there for sure!

Wow! I couldn't believe she went through all that trouble to draw this for me. She must be a really dedicated friend! Or maybe… well, that couldn't be the reason. She definitely didn't like me that way. After all, we only started getting to know each other yesterday. Anyways, I should make sure that I got her a gift in return, preferably before the dance, which is on Friday. Although… I didn't really know what I could get her, considering I don't know much about art. I didn't want to get her something that she would never use or something that she didn't like, especially after she put in so much hard work for my gift.

Throughout morning classes, I tried to listen to the lessons, but I could not take my mind off Lani and her gift.

* * *

It was after school, and I was about to head down to the pool a little earlier, when I received a text message from Jeff.

hi steve can you meet by classroom I have serious question, it read.

Considering Jeff, who usually never had anything serious to say, this must have been something important. Turning around, I walked towards the classroom, where I met Jeff eating ice cream.

"Hi Jeff, did you want to talk about something?"

"Yeah, actually. I was just wondering something. Are you and Lani dating?"

"What?"

"Well, I was just wondering. If you guys are dating, well, I don't want to be a bother. It's really rude being a third wheel, you know?"

"No, no, it's not like that! You're my best friend," I said, caught off guard. "You'll never be a bother. I'm really sorry I made you feel that way. And besides, I don't even know if we're dating technically… because you know, I don't know if she just thinks of me as a friend. It's complicated!" I said as I waved my hands around, exaggerating my confusion. It was true that based on the way she acted, that she probably believed that we were dating, and I truly hoped that she felt that way, but we definitely didn't make our relationship status explicit. And besides, if she just thought of us as friends, I didn't want to ruin our relationship by assuming too much.

"It doesn't seem so complicated to me," he said. "She seems like a pretty straightforward girl, anyways. If you're confused, you could just ask her, you know?"

"But that's such an awkward question to ask!"

"It's not awkward. Just go up to her and say, 'Hey, I was just wondering, are we going to the dance as friends or as a couple?' It's that easy!"

"Well, I guess I could do that tomorrow morning. Anyways, she drew me a really cool picture as a gift, so I was wondering what to get her in return. Have any ideas?"

"You know that she likes to draw, so try getting her something she might need?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, but I don't know anything about art. Hey, you're sister is an artist, what does she like?"

"You know…" he said, before pausing for a while. "I have just the idea! Why not get her a whiteboard? That way she doesn't have to keep tearing sheets out of her notepad when she wants to talk to you. Also, I know my sister carries one around sometimes when she's working on her art."

"That's a great idea! Thank you very much!" I said gratefully.

After swimming, I walked to the drug store near my house and bought a small red whiteboard. I would give this to her tomorrow morning.

* * *

**Hello! I originally planned for more content in this chapter, but I wanted to post this by the end of the week and I found a good place to end. I've been getting lazy, but hopefully I'll write more next week. Thank you everyone for following and favoring, and thank you mocksteveh for reviewing! **


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